Pillich proposes options for insurance

POLITICS

As other health-insurance choices dwindle, one candidate for governor proposes a public option for Ohio.

Former state Rep. Connie Pillich wants to allow Ohioans to buy into Medicaid or the state-employee healthinsurance plan.

Pillich, a Democrat from Montgomery near Cincinnati, said her proposal is a response to the declining number of private insurers on the Ohio insurance exchange, which was created as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Insurance giant Anthem announced this month that it will pull out of the Ohio exchange in 2018, citing uncertainties over federal regulations as part of the reason. That will leave 18 counties with no private insurer available to those who buy on the individual market.

“I think that’s untenable,” Pillich said. “It’s inappropriate, and it’s dangerous for our state. People need to be able to buy health insurance.”

Pillich models her healthinsurance options on an original feature of the Affordable Care Act legislation that didn’t make it into the law. The public option would have created a government-run health-insurance agency to compete with private insurers on insurance exchanges, where individuals can qualify for subsidies and buy insurance.

Pillich’s proposal would allow Ohioans to buy into Medicaid.

“This idea of Medicaid buy-in is not a new idea,” Pillich said, citing earlier proposals in Nevada.

Under Ohio’s 2014 Medicaid expansion, pregnant women earning 200 percent or less of federal poverty guidelines qualify for coverage. Other adults making 133 percent or less also qualify.

The federal government covers 90 percent of the cost to insure those who qualify under the Medicaid expansion, while Ohio covers the rest. Pillich’s proposal would allow others to buy in, provided that they pay both the federal and state shares.

“It wouldn’t cost taxpayers anything,” she said.

Many providers don’t accept Medicaid patients, complaining about low rates of reimbursement. To get around that potential difficulty, Pillich’s proposal also would allow people to buy into the health plans used by state lawmakers and state employees; that option probably would be more expensive than buying into Medicaid.

“The idea is to give people options to buy insurance,” Pillich said.